The Return of Atlantis
by StorytellerRP
Summary: Atlantis, which Lara Croft believed to be gone, attempts to rise to power again.
1. The Power Within

Lara Croft's pulse was racing. The giant sphinx loomed above her bathing her in shadow. She could hear the prancing of the centaur somewhere close by. After flexing her fingers Lara pulled the Uzis out and inched her way along the leg of the sphinx.

The centaur was stamping impatiently as Lara reached the end of the sphinx's leg. She peered around the end and glimpsed the centaur rearing up near the other leg. After taking a breath, Lara ran out of the shadow guns blazing. She was immediately met with a ball of fire which knocked her onto her back.

Lara quickly scrambled to her feet and ran toward the wall of the cavernous room, barely missing a second fire ball. She dived to the ground, firing at the centaur. In response, the centaur ran behind one of the sphinx's legs. Lara ran after the centaur. The minute the centaur came into view, she was hit square in the chest with a ball of fire.

Lara Croft woke up with a start. Her bedroom was dark and all was quiet. For a moment Lara looked around then she turned on a lamp that was beside her bed. Her dreams were getting worse. Ever since she had witnessed her mother being taken through the portal Lara had never been the same.

Lara then did what she always did when she couldn't sleep, walked around her mansion. As she walked she thought or tried not to think about her mother. To get herself to think about other subjects, Lara went to where her various trophies that she had taken over the years were kept. Numerous items were here, including the Dagger of Xian, which she had procured from the Temple in China, and the Spear of Destiny. In the middle of the room was the broken Scion.

Lara walked up to the Scion and looked at it. After she had shattered the artifact to keep it away from Natla, the fragments were thrown all over. The artifact still missed several pieces.

The next morning came quickly. After her morning workout, Lara ate breakfast. It was then that the doorbell rang. A few moments later, Winston entered the dining room.

"Ms. Croft," Winston said, "Alex West is here to see you."

Alex was in the library looking at the books when Lara entered.

"Alex," Lara said. "How are you?"

"Not too bad, Lara," Alex replied. "I have something for you."

Alex picked up a long case that was setting on the floor. "You mentioned about this in one of your books; the one where you went to Antarctica."

Alex carried the case over to one of the large tables that were in the room and Lara followed.

"I didn't know you were such a fan of my books," Lara replied.

Alex grinned shyly. "Actually, I've read all of them, even the least popular ones."

Alex opened the case. It was a relic that was long with points at the ends and seemed to be stone and metal that had been fused together.

"It's the Ora Dagger," Lara stated. "Where did you find it?"

"Where you left it," Alex replied. "I traced your path back to the meteorite. I searched for the other artifacts mentioned in your book, but this is the only one that I could find. Someone else might have taken them. There were signs that other prospectors had been there before I arrived."

"And this one?" Lara asked.

"I wanted you to have it," Alex said. "I mean if I kept it, it would just gather dust somewhere since it's not the most popular item."

"Winston," Lara called to her servant. After a moment Winston entered. "Yes, Ms. Croft?"

"Have a space cleared in the trophy room," Lara said.

"At once, Ms. Croft," Winston responded.

The day progressed uneventfully. Alex West had left, and Winston was busy preparing room for Lara's newest addition. During Lara's trip to Antarctica she had left behind the four artifacts that she had taken with her when the cave that the meteorite was in collapsed. It had been her intention to destroy the four artifacts before they caused anymore trouble. Lara had secretly wanted to have at least one of the artifacts for her own.

Lara was in the trophy room helping Winston, when her satellite phone rang. She hustled to her study, and went to her desk. She then keyed the receive button on the phone. A monitor on her one wall came on and viewed a man dressed in a suit.

"Ms. Croft?" the man said.

"Yes," Lara replied to the stranger.

"I was told to call you," the man said. "You were said to know about what I am going to show you."

Lara waited.

"A colleague of mine was exploring a series of abandoned mines when he vanished," the man stated. "We searched for him, but our search was unproductive."

"So why are you calling me?" Lara asked.

On the screen the man picked up a photograph. "All that we found of him was this."

When Lara saw the picture, she almost gasped. The photo was a wide angle shot of a red creature that was crouched over into an almost crawling position. It was an Atlantian.

"Where was that taken?" Lara asked.

"I'll take you there," the man replied.

Lara packed some things and flew out of England by private jet. She had a very unsettling feeling in her stomach about the photo. Could a portion of the pyramid have survived? Could Atlantians be hiding in other places?

Her jet was somewhere over France when Winston contacted her.

"The new artifact has been added to your trophies," Winston told her.

"Thank you, Winston," Lara replied.

"If I may," Winston said, "I'd like to take the rest of the day off."

"Sure," Lara replied, looking at a display of her servant. "You don't look so good."

"I'm feeling a bit peeked. My head hurts something fierce."

"Fine," Lara replied. "Go home and rest."

After cutting the communication with Winston, Lara called Zip. The man's house looked like it was being remodeled when he answered.

"Zip, I'm going to be out of town for a while, and Winston isn't feeling well," Lara said. "Could you keep an eye of the mansion while I'm out?"

"Can do," Zip replied.

"Thanks," Lara responded. "Could you check on Winston as well?"

"Yep," Zip replied, "if I can get this place fixed up right."

There was a huge crashing sound that seemed to come from behind Zip, causing Zip to whirl around.

"Hey," Zip shouted," that wall was supposed to stay!"

Lara cringed a little, but could not help laughing to herself.

"Bye," Lara said to Zip, "and good luck."

Lara met the stranger in southern Turkey. The man introduced himself as Herald Summers from the United States. He and a colleague, Lester by name, were at an archeological dig when they stumbled upon the abandoned mines. The colleague went into the mines one day and never came out.

"These tunnels go for miles," Herald said to Lara, "or so I was told."

The two walked in the light of a lantern, which lit the mine tunnel rather efficiently. Lara followed Herald into a large room in which several old mine carts were stored. The air was moist and cool, the sound of dripping water echoed from somewhere.

Herald pointed to an alcove in the wall. "From the photo, we determined that Les was hiding there when he took it."

Lara walked over to the alcove and looked at the floor. "The photo was all you found?"

"We found his camera," Harold replied. "We then had the film developed. You say you have seen this type of creature before?"

Harold handed the picture of the Atlantian to Lara. Lara took it. "I have."

Lara went back to her jet and prepared to explore the mines. When she emerged she had on her signature outfit; form-fitting top, shorts, boots, gun belt, and backpack. She met Harold again at the entrance to the mines.

"I'll be back in a while," Lara said. "I can't say how long."

Harold handed her a burning torch. "Please be careful Ms. Croft."

"I will," Lara replied.

In England, the workers that were remodeling Zip's house were calling it a day. Zip was glad, since they had done enough damage today. After eating a light meal, he headed out toward the Croft mansion.

The gate to the mansion was closed, and Zip used a special access code to enter. Winston's Rolls Royce was still parked by the mansion entrance. After parking his car behind Winston's, Zip entered the mansion.

"Winston," Zip called. "Yo Winston, you here?"

There was no answer.

Zip went to the control room that monitored the entire structure. It did not take long to find Winston. He was lying on the floor of the trophy room. Zip then noticed something else. He ran from the control room.

In the trophy room, the Scion was glowing. The Ora Dagger had glowing sections that looked like veins that went from one point to the other. There was also a deafening high-pitched tone filling the room.

Zip heard the tone well before getting to the trophy room. Reaching the entrance to the trophy room he had to stop. The sound was too loud. He looked at the glowing artifacts as he backed away.

Zip quickly went to Lara's shooting range and got a pair of ear muffs. He then hustled back to the trophy room. With the ear muffs on Zip entered and, not being able to lift Winston, settled for dragging him out of the room. He dragged Winston as far from the trophy room as he could.

Lara had gone back to where the photo of the Atlantian had been taken. There she looked closely at the ground. Along with several human footprints there were strange tracks that Lara guessed were from the Atlantian.

Lara followed the tracks through a few mine tunnels until they led to a large crack in the one wall. She listened but did not hear anything. She stepped into the crack. The crack led to a small system of caves that Lara navigated easily. Following the tracks of the Atlantian creature was a different matter. The tracks seemed to disappear within the first few meters of the caves.

Following the largest passages, Lara searched for where the creature might have come from. She then found something that she did not expect. One of the tunnels dead ended, and it appeared that the floor of the cave had fallen through. There was soft light coming from the hole.

After tying a rope off, Lara went down through the hole. For a moment she hung and looked around at the large hall. The light was from fire containing bowls and the hall was longer than wide and had several large columns in it. Lara then saw something moving at the far end of the hall.

Lara quickly slid down to the floor and pulled out her pistols. Using the columns for cover Lara made her way to the other end of the hall. At the other end of the hall there was a large crack in the one wall as well as a closed door off to Lara's left. After looking at the door for a long moment, Lara walked up to the crack. It was the only place that whatever she had seen could have gone. She wanted to see what was beyond the closed door, but she was on a mission. Maybe when all this was over and done with, she could explore.

Inside the crack Lara followed the cave passage to a large open cavernous room. She immediately knew that she had found a nest. Four to five large embryonic pods hung on the walls. She also spied two Atlantian creatures at the far side. As the two creatures turned to Lara, Lara pulled out her pistols and did what she did best. After killing the two creatures, Lara destroyed the pods.

On her way back to the hall, Lara had to wonder how the nest got there. She was nowhere near where the pyramid had been. The nest could not have spawned itself.

Resisting the urge to explore behind the door, Lara made her way back to the mines. She was concerned with how Winston was. She loved Winston like a father.

Harold was waiting at the mine entrance when Lara emerged.

"Did you find the creature?" he asked.

"Yes," Lara replied, "Several of them."

A Turkish man ran up to Lara and Harold.

"Ms. Croft," the man said, "there is a telephone call for you."

Lara went to where a large tent was set up at the edge of the archeological dig. A satellite phone was there, and on the monitor was Alex West with Zip standing beside him.

"What's going on?" Lara said to them.

Zip told Lara about how he had found Winston unconscious in the trophy room. He had contacted Alex, and together they had taken Winston to the hospital. Winston had awakened shortly after arriving at the hospital.

"How is he?" Lara asked.

"He's doing alright now," Zip said. "They're keeping him for the night."

"Lara, both the Scion and the artifact that I brought you were glowing," Alex said. "We analyzed the energy coming from them. I've never seen any type of energy like this."

"Do you think that they…" Lara began. "Wait, you said _this_ type of energy. What did you mean?"

"The energy coming from both artifacts are the same," Alex stated. "It's like whoever made the Scion used the same type of power to make the Dagger. My guess is that they had this energy inside them the whole time, and being brought together caused the energy to emerge."

Lara had to think about how Jacqueline Natla has used the power of the Scion to create. She never even thought about what type of power it used. Lara only knew that the power had almost killed her.

"I'm done here," Lara said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

During the trip back Lara thought. The reappearance of the Atlantians as well as the energy coming from both the Scion and the Ora Dagger made her very nervous. For both artifacts to emit the same type of energy they would have to have come from the same place. Lara only knew that the Scion was built by the people of Atlantis. Natla was one of them.

Both Alex West and Zip stayed at the Croft mansion during the time Lara was flying back to England. They were looking at the glowing artifacts from the control room when Lara arrived.

"They were glowing like this when you found Winston?" Lara asked Zip.

"Yeah," Zip replied. "He must have been knocked out by the sound."

"What sound?" Lara asked.

The tone coming from the artifacts was as high and loud as it had been when Zip found the butler. All wearing ear muffs, Lara, Alex, and Zip walked into the trophy room. Lara walked up to the Ora Dagger, and reached out to pick it up. The moment she touched it she instantly jerked her hand back.

Lara shook her hand and blew on her fingers. "Well, that was smart. Zip, fetch me some oven mitts."

After Zip got the mitts Lara took the Ora Dagger out of the trophy room. The glowing and the high pitched sound ceased as soon as the artifact left the room. Lara took the Ora Dagger to the outside of the mansion to cool down.

The Ora Dagger and the Scion were now as they were, so Lara, Alex, and Zip went to the hospital to see how Winston was doing. It turned out that the butler was fine, but he did not remember anything after putting the Ora Dagger in its place in the trophy room.

"The doctors say that I can leave in the morning," Winston stated.

"I'm just glad you're all right," Lara said.

"Well," Alex West said glancing at the clock on the wall, "I've got to be going."

"Thanks for your help," Lara told him.

The next morning Lara drove to the hospital to pick Winston up. Lara asked him if he wanted to go home, but Winston said to go to the Croft mansion. His car was there anyway.

"Have you had any breakfast?" Winston asked after the two entered the structure.

"Not yet," Lara replied.

"Then I will fix you some," Winston stated.

The two entered the large kitchen. Lara watched as Winston turned on the stove.

"You can take the day off," Lara said," if you would like."

"I'm fine, Ms. Croft," Winston responded. "What will you be doing today?"

"Well, Zip is busy remodeling his house, so I'll be studying the Scion and the Ora Dagger myself. There has to be a reason that they were glowing."

After breakfast Lara and Winston went to the outside of the mansion to where the Ora Dagger was. The artifact was cool once again and there were no signs of the glowing veins.

"Winston, could you take the Scion to the study," Lara said.

Winston went to the trophy room and picked up the Scion. He was carrying the Scion out when it came apart in his hands. Winston stopped and looked at the Scion. The once damaged single piece was now three different circular artifacts. All of the pieces showed no sign of damage of any kind.

Winston took the now three scions to the study and placed them on a table. For some reason he got nervous looking at them. They all appeared as if they had just been made, because they shone brightly in the study lights. Winston hustled from the study.

Lara was coming up from the basement.

"I put the Ora Dagger back in the trophy room," Lara told Winston. "I'll have to do more research on it."

Lara looked at her butler. "What is it?"

"The Scion is no longer in one piece," Winston replied.

Lara and Winston went to the study and up to the table on which the three artifacts rested.

"They're three again," Lara said. "Natla used me to find these three pieces. Separately they had no power. They needed to be combined. Why would the glowing force them apart?"

"I wish I could tell you, Ms. Croft," Winston responded.


	2. The Missing Peice

**Chapter 2: The Missing Piece**

Lara and Winston stood looking at the three Scions.

"I don't understand how these look brand new," Winston said to Lara.

"The glowing must have done it," Lara replied. "We don't know anything about the power…wait a minute."

"What is it?" Winston asked.

"These are different." Lara went over to one of her book shelves. On the one shelf were copies of books that she had written. One was "Search for the Scion". Lara brought the book back to the table.

Leafing through the book, Lara found two pages which had drawings of the artifacts that she had taken from Peru, Greece, and Egypt. The pieces that rested on the table were similar, yet there were distinct differences.

"These are not the pieces that I took," Lara stated. "We'll have to scan these pieces into the computer to find out more about them."

Lara took the scions to the control room where her 3-dimensional scanner was.

"Zip showed me how to use this once," Lara explained to Winston. "I should be able to scan these in with much problem."

At an al fresco café in Florence, Italy, Alex West was just finishing lunch. He put down a tip for the waitress and finished his drink. After walking to a nearby street he got into his Ferrari and left.

Alex was driving when his cell phone rang.

"Yeah," Alex said into the phone.

Alex was listening when he looked into his rear view mirror and noticed that there were two black Mini Coopers following close behind. Alex took a right and drove down the narrower street.

"Sure, I'll be there," Alex said into the phone. Looking into the mirror again, he saw that the black cars were still behind him.

"I'm going to have to call you back," Alex said.

Alex put the phone down and looked back at the Mini Coopers. These cars had followed him before about a week ago.

Alex shifted gears. "Let the games begin."

The Ferrari surged forward, and the mini coopers followed suit.

Reaching a large intersection, Alex's Ferrari roared into the crossing causing cars to screech to a stop. The Ferrari and two pursuing cars raced through the intersection.

A gun shot rang out, the rear window of the Ferrari shattering. Alex ducked in response. He pulled the steering wheel to the left, and quickly drove into a crossing street. The Mini Coopers followed.

A darkly dressed man leaned out of the lead Cooper and fired again at the Ferrari, missing. Alex drove through another intersection barely missing several vehicles. He looked into the rear view mirror as the first Mini Cooper made it through. The second hit another car and was thrown into the air.

Nearing another intersection Alex sped up and for a moment the Mini Cooper was left behind. The Ferrari blew into the intersection the Mini Cooper following. Near the other side of the intersection Alex slammed on his brakes and slid to a right angle with his pursuer. Alex quickly pulled out a pistol and fired three shots shattering the Mini Cooper's windshield with two.

The Mini Cooper slid across the intersection and slammed into a parked car. Alex quickly got out of his and ran to the black car. He pointed the pistol at the driver.

"Get out," Alex shouted.

Holding up his hands the driver slowly got out. He had sustained a small head wound in the crash.

"Don't shoot," the man said to Alex, as he got out.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" Alex asked.

"I was hired to take some artifact from you. Something you got from Antarctica."

For a moment Alex stared at the man. The Ora Dagger was more popular than he realized.

"Who hired you?" Alex asked the man.

"Please, put the gun away and I'll tell you everything," the man replied.

Alex laughed. "Put the gun away? You tried to kill me."

"Mr. West, you're making a scene," the man responded. For the first time Alex noticed that people were watching.

Alex lowered his pistol. "Fine. I know a better conversation spot."

Alex had the man get into his Ferrari and he drove to where he was staying for the night. There the man told him everything, or at least everything that he knew.

"I don't know that name of the man who hired me to find this artifact," the man explained. "He did seem very eager to get it."

At the Croft mansion control room Lara was looking at computer drawings of one of the scions on a series of computer screens. The drawings were fairly drawn but they were not clear. She had contacted Zip and asked for some help. He explained that he would be there as soon as he could.

When Zip arrived, Lara was getting ready to scan the scions in for a third time.

With Zip's help the three scions were scanned in. The resulting images were very sharp. Lara had to sigh.

"I'm glad you're here," Lara said to Zip.

"So am I," Zip said. "They were about to take out another wall. I don't even want to think about what they're doing now."

It was then that Lara looked at one of the screens. One of the scions was blown up on the screen. Three cursors were pointing out three sections on the outside of the drawing. Lara picked up the corresponding artifact and closely looked at it. There were tiny cracks in the artifact.

"There is something else here," Lara said to Zip.

Zip worked with the computer. On the screen, portions of the drawing where the cursers were came apart as if part of a puzzle.

"Well, that's new," Zip commented.

Lara had Zip work with the other two scions. Each of them had similar portions that came apart.

"Maybe it's just me but I think these fit together," Lara said.

After a moment of Zip working with the computer the screen pointed out parts of the scions that would fit together. With a press of the Enter key, the computer combined the drawings of the scions, the puzzle parts fitting together.

On the screen was a 3D image of the three scions joined together like a three sided pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid there were three puzzle sections that were open as if waiting to be filled.

"There's another piece," Lara said in awe.

"Maybe they go into some lock," Zip replied.

"Maybe," Lara responded, "or…there might be a forth scion somewhere!"

At that moment Winston entered carrying a cell phone.

"Ms. Croft, Alex West needs to speak with you," Winston stated.

Lara tore her gaze away from the computer screen. "Thank you, Winston."

Winston handed the phone to Lara.

"Alex," Lara said into the phone.

"Lara, someone just tried to run me down. They were after the Ora Dagger."

Lara looked at the computer screen that displayed the three scions combined.

"There is more going on here than we know," Lara said.


	3. From the Ashes

**Chapter 3: From the Ashes**

Across the ocean in the city of Chicago, some policemen were on the tail of a suspected drug dealer. The suspect had run into the city's drainage system and the police were closing in on the man. The dogs that they used were well trained and it did not take long to find the dealer.

"Good boy," Officer Landis patted his dog, and the suspect was led away in cuffs.

As the police finished categorizing the drugs that the dealer had, Landis's dog suddenly barked wildly, leaping into the air. Landis tried to keep the dog at bay, but it bolted off down one of the corridors.

"Come back," Landis shouted as he and several other officers ran after the dog. When the officers caught up to the dog, it was at a place there the ceiling of the tunnel was bowed down, and there was intense heat coming off of the nearly melted stone and steel.

"What the hell?" one of the officers asked.

"What's above this corridor," Landis asked.

"We're under where the warehouses are," an older officer said.

The warehouse that was above the corridor was completely engulfed in flames. Four of the city's fire departments were busy fighting the blaze.

It took about 5 hours to get the fire extinguished and for the firefighters to be able to enter the structure. The fire marshal was on the scene and was investigating the cause. What the fire marshal found he could not explain. Near the center of the ruined warehouse were iron beams that appeared to be melted and the floor was sagging like a crater. The heat was still very intense.

"It looks like the fire started here," the marshal said to one of the fire chiefs, "possibly from something that was left in storage."

After a few more hours of soaking the floor with water the crater was cool enough to walk into. Two of the firemen were sifting through the ashes at the bottom of the crater when one picked something up. It was made out of a strange type of stone and had four points on it, two to an end.

"What do you think this is?" the one fireman asked the other.

On a destroyed and desolate area of land was a single helicopter. The engines were powering off and several men were getting out of it. On the side of the helicopter was the logo "Ross Technologies".

"What exactly are we doing here?" one man asked David Ross. Mr. Ross was now the head of what used to be Natla Technologies.

"I'm here for some souvenirs," Mr. Ross said. He took out Lara Croft's book 'Search for the Scion'.

"It says in here that there was a pyramid here that was made of gold," Ross continued. "This is also where Natla disappeared. I've searched for this place for a long time."

On Ross's instruction, the men conducted a search of the area. After an hour of searching, the only thing discovered was more desolation. There seemed to be no sign that the pyramid had even existed.

"Nothing, Mr. Ross," one of his men told him.

Ross thought for a moment. "Maybe we can search…"

"Over here," came a shout.

Ross and company followed the shout over to where there was a cavern that extended into the rock. The cavern was roughly circular and the walls of the inside of it were smooth. Entering the cavern the men's lights illuminated the biggest surprise of all. Lying in the middle of the cavern was Jacqueline Natla.

For a long moment Ross and the others stared. Ross leaved through Lara Croft's book. He silently read and then looked at the smooth walls.

"She must not have been human," Ross commented in awe. "Only a being with a lot of power could carve all this out. She must have…"

"I don't believe it," stated a man who was crouched beside Natla's body. "She's alive!"

At the Croft mansion Lara was preparing to leave. She was convinced that the forth scion was near the Atlantian nest that she had destroyed. She planned to go through the door that she had discovered.

"What about the Ora Dagger?" Winston asked. "Mr. West said that his pursuers had tried to kill him just to get it."

Lara thought for a moment. "I might take it with me. If whoever was after Alex traced it to here, they might get their hands on it. I don't want that to happen."

"I could take it," Zip replied. "They would never think to look in my house."

Winston had brought the car around to take Lara to her private jet. The Ora Dagger was in the case that Alex had brought it in.

Lara handed the case to Zip. "Keep it safe."

"Will do, Ms. Croft," Zip responded.

After an uneventful flight to Turkey, Lara's jet landed and she made her way to the mines. She had not wanted to interrupt the work at the archeological dig, but Herald Summers noticed her.

"I'm surprised to see you again," Herald commented.

"I didn't expect to be back so soon," Lara replied.

Lara explained that she was going to do some more exploring. Herald went back to work at the dig, and Lara went to the mines. Tracing her old path, Lara made her way to the large hall that she had discovered when chasing the Atlantian creature. She half expected to see another one of the creatures. She saw none.

All seemed eerily quiet as Lara went up to the door. She seemed to sense that all this with the scions and the Ora Dagger was far from being over. After finding the nearby switch Lara opened the door.

Beyond was a small maze of similarly decorated rooms. There were the rooms and one other door. It took a bit longer to find the switch. Lara then went through the now open door.

The room beyond was similar to the main room that was in Tihocan's tomb. Columns surrounded an expansive floor, and there was a pedestal in the center on an elevated space as well as a raised section of floor marking where a sepulcher was. The pedestal that held the forth scion…was empty.

Lara's heart sank. Obviously someone had beaten her to it. For a long moment she looked at the pedestal and then around at the walls. The wall across from the entrance had an array of writing and drawings on it.

Walking up to the wall Lara began to read.

'Atlantis was once the greatest civilization founded on Earth. The power of its rulers was unrivalled. Perhaps the greatest of its rulers was Reodan, whose tomb lies here.'

Lara looked at the raised slab that was in the very center of the room. The name on the wall was completely unfamiliar to her. She was familiar with Qualepec, and Tihocan, because she had visited their tombs. As for the third one, Natla had almost taken Lara's life in the battle inside the pyramid.

Lara continued to read. 'During the initial forming of Atlantis, Reodan was the leader of all of the Atlantians, and oversaw the building of the great cities of Atlantis.'

'The other rulers of Atlantis became jealous of Reodan for his great influence on the inhabitants. Not more so than with Natla, who wanted all of the power for herself. Thus she was banished from the land.'

'It was then that all of the other rulers of Atlantis joined forces and drove Reodan out. Reodan and his numerous supporters fought back, but they were not successful at stopping the combined forces of the other rulers. The great Reodan was then killed.'

Lara looked around, but there was no other writing. There was nothing that even seemed to mention about a fourth scion. The pedestal must have held something else.

As Lara left the room she was disappointed at not finding another scion, but she was also somewhat relieved. She wondered if the other combined scions would fit on the pedestal somehow. She dismissed the idea.

Alex West had let the man who had tried to run him down go. Alex wanted to follow him to try and find out who he worked for, but he had other things to do. He had been summoned by a wealthy businessman; for what reason he was not told. Alex was not even told the man's name.

Alex West and the businessman were in a very spacious office on the top floor of a building in Munich, Germany. In fact this was one of the nicest offices Alex had seen in a long time. He also knew that the reward for any errand would be quite handsome.

"There was a fire in Chicago, in the United States," the businessman told Alex. "The fire, which was in a warehouse, was so hot that the stone and the steel inside the warehouse actually melted from the heat."

"Now that's hot," Alex commented. "Any idea what caused it?"

"Yes," the businessman replied, pulling out a large photo.

"Once the fire had died, this was pulled from the ashes." The businessman handed the photo to Alex.

"You have seen it before," the businessman said, seeing Alex's expression.

"Only in pictures," Alex replied. The only time he had seen it was in Lara Croft's book. She had called it the Infada Stone.

Alex continued to think. The resurfacing of the Infada and the glowing of the Ora Dagger and the Scion happening at the same time was too much of a coincidence.

"I would like you to get the Infada for me," the businessman stated, interrupting Alex's thoughts. "The Infada is still in Chicago."

"How much will I get if I do this?" Alex asked, although he was not thinking about money. If the Infada had the power to melt steel, what was he going to do with it?


	4. The Past Returns

**Chapter 4: The Past Returns**

Natla had underestimated the defense that Lara Croft would put up in the battle inside the pyramid. She had been in her true form during which she felt invincible. It was the destruction of her creation, the Abomination, that made her temper erupt. Natla did not have a clue that she would lose the battle, especially when she was raining hell fire down on Ms. Croft.

Natla had been knocked out of the air, and then she had lost consciousness. She had come to for a brief moment, but in that moment she realized that the pyramid was collapsing down upon her. Using all of the power that she had left, she sent out a burst of energy that went out from her in a spherical pattern.

The burst had saved her life, but had taken everything else. All of her power was gone. She had been in her winged form so she had no clothing on, and that was the way that Ross and company had found her.

Jacqueline Natla now rested in a bed in a hospital in Istanbul. She was still alive, but in a coma. The doctors had checked on her from time to time, but it was unknown how long the coma would last.

It was early in the evening and Zip was looking at the remodeling job. The project was coming along all right. The wall that had been taken out by mistake had never been rebuilt. It added a lot more space and Zip changed his plans for the house.

Zip was just curling up with a book, when his satellite phone sounded. On the screen was Alex West.

"Mr. West?" Zip responded.

"Zip, I'm going to be in the United States for a while on an assignment," Alex said. "I need for you to help me."

"What kind of assignment?" Zip asked.

"I need to take something, and I need a contact on the outside."

"Sure, I can help," Zip replied and then broke the connection.

When Lara arrived back at her mansion, she went to work trying to find the name Reodan, the name written on the wall of the tomb. As much as she searched, she could not find anything. She even searched the Internet with no luck.

Exasperated, Lara went down to her trophy room. The three scions had been placed back where the original one had been. Leaning against the doorway she thought. There has to be another scion. She was almost sure of it, but where could it be?

At that moment Winston walked up to her.

"Ms Croft," Winston said," Alex West is on the satellite phone."

In the study Lara turned on the viewer and Alex appeared, looking a bit flustered.

"Alex, what's going on?"

"I don't know what's going on," Alex replied sounding a bit irritated. "Somebody tried to run me off the road for the Ora Dagger, and now some millionaire who won't even tell me his name is paying me an almost obscene amount of money to get the Infada Stone."

Lara stood quietly for a moment to let what Alex said sink in. Finally she said, "What about the other artifacts that I took to Antarctica?"

"I haven't heard anything about them," Alex replied. "I think you should try to find them again."

Lara thought about the sheer scale of that undertaking. The four items were taken from where she had left them. They could be anywhere on Earth.

"Could you possible help me?" Lara felt almost powerless to ask. She had never needed anyone's help before, and it felt odd to ask.

"Well, I need to go to America to get the Infada," Alex stated. "Once I get back I'll see what I can do. Oh, Zip agreed to help me."

"Zip is going with you?" Lara asked. Lara immediately decided to get the Ora Dagger before Zip left.

"I wish you luck," Lara said to Alex.

"Thanks," Alex replied.

It was during the flight to Chicago and Alex and Zip learned that the Infada had been moved to a museum. It was being put on display along with other artifacts that not much was known about. The best time to take it would be at night.

"This is not going to be easy," Alex said to Zip. After getting the complete layout of the museum, a plan was worked out. Alex kept telling Zip that he felt like a criminal for breaking into a museum to steal an artifact. That was what a criminal would do. But, this was much more than petty theft. The Infada was also much more than a mere artifact. It needed to be kept in a place that only a few knew of.

After Jacqueline Natla had been taking to the hospital, Mr. Ross and his men had returned to where Natla had been found. Ross was obsessed about getting some of the gold that had comprised the destroyed pyramid no matter how much or little there was to find. Some of his workers had returned to the spherical cavern and did a complete search of it. It did not take long to find that there were several large cracks in the walls.

Splitting up into teams of three, the caves that the cracks led to were searched. One of the caves did not go too far, but the other one produced something the team found very unusual. It was a large room that was not naturally made.

"Have you ever seen anything like this," one of the men, Thomas, voiced to the other two. The others merely shook their heads. As the men searched the room they immediately noticed something. Two sides of the rooms were mirror images of each other.

"Man," one man said, "this is fr-".

The sentence was stopped short when it appeared on one of the higher landings. The thing was strangely human formed, and appeared to have female bodily characteristics. It turned its head to look down at the men.

Two of the men were armed, and they both pointed their weapons at it. About five shots were fired into the creature. The creature did not move, but the two men with the guns staggered backwards and fell to the floor of the room. Terrified, Thomas, the man left standing, inched his way over to the shooter nearest him. Feeling for a pulse he found none.

The man stood and ran for the exit. In an instant the creature was in front of him. The creature opened her/its mouth to utter one word in a raspy hiss. "Lara."

Lara Croft was in her dining room eating lunch. She had gotten the Ora Dagger from Zip the other day and it comforted her to know that it was safe. She was just finishing up when Winston entered the dining room.

"Ms. Croft, there is a Mr. Ross on the satellite phone," Winston said. "He sounded quite unnerved."

Lara went to her study and keyed receive on the phone.

"Ms Croft," Ross said as soon as he saw Lara on his viewer. "It's an honor to finally speak with you."

"Thank you," Lara said slowly. "Who are you?"

"I am the CEO of Ross Technologies," Ross replied. Beside Mr. Ross was a man who appeared to have seen a ghost. "Ms. Croft, there is something that you must hear."

Lara listened as Thomas stammered about the mirrored room and the demon looking thing that had killed two of his co-workers. Lara knew immediately what he was talking about.

"My doppelganger," Lara said to herself. "Where did you see it?"

"It was where you destroyed the pyramid," Ross stated.

"Yeah," Thomas replied. "We also found Ms. Natla alive!"

Lara's jaw dropped. For a moment Lara felt as if punched in the stomach. It was like her past was coming back to haunt her.

"Ms. Croft," Ross said, "I want you to search out and get rid of any…more surprises."

"I'll be there," Lara said after a moment.

Mr. Ross had sent the coordinates of where Lara's doppelganger had been seen. During the trip Lara's mind was in a whirl. She had to ask herself why all this was happening.

Lara met Mr. Ross at the entrance to the spherical cave.

"The thing was sighted in one of the branching caves," Ross said to Lara. "None of my men will go into any of the caves now."

Lara looked around at the spherical cave. "This is where Natla was found?"

"Yes, right there in the center."

"Well," Lara said, "I'll be back in a while."

Alex West stood on the other side of the street from the museum. The sun was setting over the city of Chicago, and he was scouting out the best way onto the roof of the large structure. He believed that the best way would be to climb up the wall in the rear.

Around eleven o'clock Alex was parked a few blocks from the back of the museum. He then started his trek to where he had stashed his gear. The only gear that he had with him was a headset.

"Zip, do you read me?" Alex said.

"Loud and clear, Mr. West," Zip's voice came over the headset.

"How's it look?"

"The interior of the museum is mostly empty," Zip replied. "There appears to be three to four security guards on patrol, but I should be able to steer you around them."

Alex looked around nervously before he started to climb up a rope toward the top of the museum. Where he was, was in shadow, so he was not noticed. Once on the roof, he quickly pulled up the rope.

Following Zip's guidance Alex went to one of the numerous skylights. Opening a hatch in the skylight Alex peered down into a lunar exhibit. He then ran the rope into the opening.

Alex adjusted his night vision goggles and then grabbed the rope. "I'm going in."

Flashbacks crossed Lara's mind as she went from one crumbled room to the next. More of the structures that had been beneath the pyramid had survived than she felt comfortable with. She had hoped that everything had been destroyed. The flashbacks started when she found the room where she and her doppelganger had met.

In the confused state of the entire place Lara found her way into places that she was sure that she had never been in before. Sure the architecture was similar, but the general layouts of the rooms were unfamiliar. The further she went the more nervous she became. At least she had her shotgun with her.

At the Croft mansion Winston was just finishing up mopping the floor of the kitchen. He put the supplies away and then went to work getting something to eat. As he prepared the meal, he noticed a strange odor. He had cleaned the kitchen so he knew that the odor had to come from somewhere else. He went to the entrance to the foyer. The moment that he looked into the foyer he gasped.

Lara's doppelganger was standing in the middle of the floor. When the doppelganger turned her head to him, Winston cried out and ran back into the kitchen. Winston was glad that Lara kept a lot of weapons around the house. He went to one of the drawers that had a pistol in it. Unlike Lara, Winston was not used to firearms.

Cautiously Winston went back to the foyer. The doppelganger was not there. For a moment Winston thought about what the thing wanted. Then it occurred to him. It had to be after the scions.

Winston made his way down to the trophy room. The doppelganger was standing in front of the trophy room entrance. Winston pointed the pistol at the thing. The doppelganger turned to him, and he pulled the hammer back. He was about to fire when he remembered Lara's book.

In the museum Alex West was quietly walking down a long hallway. Various metal and stone artifacts from around the world were displayed. Glass separated him and them.

"The Infada should be in the next room to your right," Zip's voice said into Alex's ear. Alex quickly glanced around him before ducking into the room. The Infada was in a glass case at the end. Taking out a glass cutter, Alex set to work on the case.

Lara was nearing the end of a corridor when she came to a strange looking lift. Almost apprehensively, she walked onto it and the lift began to drop. About fifty feet down the lift came to a stop. Shotgun at the ready Lara cautiously walked down a corridor.

The doppelganger was walking into the trophy room. Winston watched as it walked past the scions and up to the Ora Dagger. He had no idea what to do. Shooting it would do no good.

The doppelganger grabbed the artifact. Winston held his ears as the Ora Dagger emitted a high pitched tone. A burst of power came out from it, shattering all of the cases in the room.

Alex West was thrown back as the Infada emitted a similar burst of energy. Glass all around the exhibit room shattered with a great crash, sirens sounding. Alex got to his feet and staggered out of the room.

Up the hall two security guards were hustling toward Alex.

"Hey!" one of the guards yelled. Alex turned and ran.

At the end of the corridor Lara came to a large room, the ceiling of it high above. It took a minute for her to get a layout of the room, but it told her one thing. She could be in a great deal of trouble. All over the walls of the room were numerous embryonic pods, all of which were pulsating. A sound caused her to turn. Another sound came from her left, and then two more above her.

All over the room that Lara was in, pods were hatching.

In Jacqueline Natla's hospital room she lay still. Then…she opened her eyes.


	5. Assembling the Pieces

Chapter 5

Lara was very much regretting not being more careful. She knew that she might have a hard time making it back to the surface, but she had no idea that she would have to fight a one woman battle against the swarm of Atlantean creatures that were coming after her. Well, there was no time for regrets.

Lara ran back the corridor toward the lift that had brought her down. With the narrow corridor, the Atlanteans were confined to a small channel, and made it easier for Lara to dispose of them. Turning she fired numerous shots with both pistols, numerous Atlaneans dying in the barrage of bullets.

Reaching the lift Lara ran onto it hoping that it would start rising. With a sudden lurch, the lift began its ascent. The Atlanteans entered the lift area like a flood, and Lara fired down at them. Winged creatures took to the air instantly matching the lift's speed. The creatures flew at the lift and at Lara, Lara picking each one off as they got near.

The lift rose through the ceiling, all of the Atlanteans below it. Lara instantly knew that she needed to somehow keep them from reaching the surface. She needed to-

The lift suddenly shook and a blast of fire shot out from below around the lift edges. Lara staggered and fell. As she got to her feet, she pulled out two grenades. The lift came to a stop and Lara ran off the lift. Pulling a pistol Lara fired at the cable holding the lift. With three shots the cable snapped and the lift fell. Pulling the pin on a grenade, Lara threw the explosive toward the lift. She quickly did the same with the other. She then turned and ran. As the grenades exploded Lara continued running. The ceiling of the cave above the lift crumbled and quickly buried the hole that the lift had fallen down.

Lara kept running until the ground stopped shaking. Turning around, she found the way to the lift completely blocked. Hopefully, the swarm would be trapped behind it. The collapsing cave was not an unmixed blessing though. Lara found out that the way that she had come down was also blocked. She would have to find another way out.

Alex West was playing a game of cat and mouse with the museum security guards. With Zip's help he had managed to evade the guards. Zip was nearly adamant about Alex leaving while he could, but Alex had other plans.

"Mr. West," Zip said over the headset, "you need to get out of there."

"I'm not leaving without the Infada," Alex replied. "There's more going on here that we know."

With Zip's help Alex made it back to the room where the artifact was. The room itself was not barred, but Alex knew that going back out through the skylight was now the only possible option for escape. Glass littered the floor, and the displays were in shambles. Alex was walking up to where the Infada was, when a voice said, "Hold it right there."

Turning around, Alex held up his hands. Two guards were standing in the doorway with their pistols aimed. One of the guards pulled out a pair of handcuffs, while the other one pulled out a walkie-talkie. "We got him."

The first of the guards was walking up to Alex when a man's scream came from down the hall. Both of the guards turned. Alex thought about trying to get one of the guards' guns, but decided not to.

When the one guard went out of the room and looked down the hall, he cried out and pointed his pistol at something. The guard fired a shot and within a second collapsed onto the floor. For a brief moment Alex forgot all about the Infada. This brought to mind something that he had read.

Now ignoring Alex, the second guard made for the room's exit. He stopped short of the doorway when Lara's doppelganger appeared. The guard shot at the thing but he was the one who went down.

For a long moment Alex and the doppelganger looked at each other. He somehow knew that it was after the Infada. Eyes locked on the thing, Alex backed up to where the artifact was. He was just reaching out to pick it up, when the doppelganger seemingly levitated up to him. Staring into the doppelganger's eyes, Alex for the first time ever felt some fear coursing through his veins.

"Reodan," the doppelganger hissed in its raspy voice. Alex had never heard the name before. He only knew that he was not going to let this thing have the Infada. In an instant, Alex grabbed the Infada and hit the doppelganger with it, the points of the artifact puncturing its neck. The doppelganger stepped back enough to let Alex make a run to the room's exit with the Infada. Upon reaching the hall, he saw that the doppelganger was following.

As Alex ran down the hall a security guard appeared at the other end. He aimed his pistol at Alex, and Alex, seeing this, dashed into a nearby doorway. For a brief moment, the guard stared at the doppelganger. He then fired at it and the guard collapsed to the ground. In the next instant, Alex ran out of the doorway and down the hall.

The rope that Alex had used to climb in was still hanging where it had been. Alex ran into the room and, grabbing the rope, began to climb.

"Hold it," came a voice from above him.

Hanging on to the rope, Alex looked up at a female guard who was above the skylight pointing her pistol down at him.

"Lady, you do not want to shoot me," Alex stated.

"I'm not going to shoot you," the guard replied, "just keep on climbing."

'Gladly,' Alex thought. He momentarily glanced back, and saw the doppelganger standing inside the doorway. In an instant the doppelganger was next to Alex. Alex desperately climbed up, but the creature grabbed his legs. He heard the guard above him let out a cry.

"Don't shoot it," Alex shouted. The guard fumbled with her gun, and tried to fire, but the weapon jammed. Alex was trying to climb and fight off the doppelganger at the same time.

"Forget the gun and help me!" Alex cried.

Frustrated, the woman tossed the gun away, and pulled on the rope. It made no difference, because there was too much weight on the other end. Alex was frantically kicking at the creature's head and torso. That's why he did not notice that the guard had left. The doppelganger pulled on Alex's legs nearly making him lose grip on the rope.

"Somebody help me!" Alex cried out when he saw that the guard was not above him.

Again he tried to kick the creature off.

"Watch out," Alex heard the female guard yell. He glanced up and saw her holding a cinder block. The woman dropped the block through the skylight. The block hit the doppelganger on the head, and then hit Alex's leg. Alex grimaced, and the creature was knocked to the floor. Alex then quickly climbed up the rope. The guard pulled him to safety. Together Alex and the woman closed the skylight.

Breathing heavily, Alex lay back looking up at the night sky. The guard was staring at the skylight.

"What was that?!" the guard asked.

"Mr. West." Alex nearly jumped when Zip's voice spoke into his ear. "Mr. West, are you alright? I lost contact for a while there."

"Yeah, Zip," Alex said, "I'm okay."

The female guard looked at him. "Who are you talking to?"

Alex felt that he had no choice but to tell the guard that he was after the Infada, and that the creature had been after it also. With a little coaxing he convinced the guard to let him go with the Infada. It did not take much coaxing, because the guard did not want that thing after her.

It took a while for Lara to reach the service. It then took her a while to figure out where she was in relation to her jet. Once she finally got to the jet, her pilot told her that Winston had been trying to contact her.

"Winston," Lara said when she called her butler by satellite phone, "what is it?"

"Lara, your doppelganger took the Ora Dagger," Winston told her.

"My doppelganger?" Lara replied.

"Yes. It was also sighted in two other places; Cairo and Buenos Aires. It took a single artifact from each location."

Lara did not need to be told what the artifacts had been. This whole thing centered around the artifacts that she had taken to Antarctica; the Ora Dagger, the Infada Stone, Element 115, and the Eye of Isis. What was the doppelganger going to do with them?

Just then Lara remembered that Alex was going to the United States for the Infada. She was about to cut the link when Winston said, "Ms. Croft, there seems to be something quite unsettling about the surveillance video from Cairo."

"Unsettling, how," Lara replied.

"It seems the creature had an accomplice," Winston said.

Lara had a hard time believing her ears. "What?"

"Wait. Here is the surveillance taken at the museum."

Lara watched the video. It was two screen feed; one of the doppelganger, and one of someone at the guard's station. It appeared that this person was distracting the guards while the creature made off with the artifact. The video was grainy and no details were present, but the person appeared to have blonde hair. Lara's first thought was of Jacqueline Natla, but that was impossible. She had killed the winged demon that was Natla.

"Winston, I'll be there in a while," Lara said to her butler. "I'm going to Cairo."

The doppelganger had taken the Eye of Isis. As soon as Lara's jet landed in Egypt, Lara made right for the museum. A male computer technician led her to the control room.

"I'm sorry we could not send a clearer video to you, Ms. Croft," the tech said. "The computer is fine tuning the video image now."

"Can I see what you have?" Lara asked. The guard cued up a blown up image of the blonde accomplice. The image was still too pixilated to tell who it was.

"It will be a few minutes more for the picture to clear," the tech said. "I'm getting off work soon. Perhaps, if you would like, we have get a drink together?"

Lara stared at the tech for a moment. "No, I'm fine."

The tech shrugged and left the room. In the time that it took for the image to clear Lara found herself pacing. When the picture of the blonde person cleared Lara could not help but stare at the screen. It was not Natla. It was the woman that she had encountered in London; the one that she had taken the Eye of Isis from the first time. It was Sophia Leigh.

The tech re-entered the control room. Lara said, "I think I'll take that drink now."

According to authorities, Sophia had taken a jeep across the desert after leaving Cairo. So Lara followed her, using locals who had seen her as guides. The chase led to a stone structure that was surrounded by rocks.

Inside Lara followed a stairway down to various chambers. Fresh footprints were on the sandy ground. Following the footprints, she came to another descending staircase. It was eerily quiet as she descended. This always made Lara nervous; knowing that someone was around yet hearing no sound.

Lara finally reached an empty darkened room. The only light was from a lantern that was hanging from the ceiling. Lara walked into the light.

"Welcome to my parlor," came Sophia's voice from the darkness, "said the spider to the fly."

After a moment Sophia asked, "What are you doing here, Lara?"

Lara said the only thing that came to her mind. "Why did you help that demon?"

"Because," Sophia replied, "we are working for the same person."

"And who might that be?" Lara asked.

"Reodan," came a raspy whisper from behind Lara. Lara whirled around guns drawn. She immediately took aim at her doppelganger that was of course mirroring her movements.

Soft footfalls sounded from the darkness and Sophia walked into the light. "Go ahead, shoot."

Lara looked from the demon to Sophia then back.

"I don't think Lara has any clue what is going on," Sophia said to the doppelganger.

"Ok," Lara replied pointing one of her pistols at Sophia. The doppelganger points away to the darkness with one hand.

"Enlighten me," Lara said. "Who was Reodan?"

"Reodan was thrown out of Atlantis by the other beings of Atlantis," Sophia explained. "Natla was the main one behind it. She just had to have all the power."

"So, why does he want the Eye of Isis?" Lara asked. She had decided not to mention the other artifacts.

"The Eye is mine," Sophia stated. "I had it for a long time, before you took it from me. I don't serve Reodan."

Sophia motioned to the doppelganger, and added, "Unlike your protégé, here."

Sophia obviously wanted the power back. Both she and the doppelganger were walking into the darkness.

"I hope you like deathtraps," Sophia said. "You're about to fall prey to one."

"Sophia, listen," Lara said. "If you think this Reodan will share this power, you-"

Lara stood stunned. If the doppelganger was getting the artifacts for Reodan, than he must be alive and well. There, standing surrounded by darkness, Lara put 4 and 1 and 1 together. Four artifacts + one power + one Altantean = big trouble. Why else would this Reodan want the artifacts other than to get the power that they contained? If an Atlantean got a hold of that kind of power, the world would be in very real jeopardy.

"Sophia, wait!" Lara shouted.

Suddenly the floor dropped sending Lara falling into darkness.


	6. Precarious Allies

**Chapter 6: Precarious Allies**

At the Croft mansion Winston was nervously pacing. He had not heard from Lara ever since she had told him that she was going to Cairo. It was not unusual, but his encounter with the doppelganger set his nerves on edge. The last thing he wanted was for something to happen to her.

The satellite phone rang.

"Ms. Croft," he said to himself as her hustled to Lara's office.

It was not Lara, but a man dressed as a doctor. Winston's first thought was that Lara had been hurt.

"I'm trying to contact a Ms. Lara Croft," the doctor said.

"I'm sorry, but she is not here," Winston replied. "I could take a message."

"Tell Ms. Croft that a Jacqueline Natla has awakened from of coma and wants to speak with her."

For a long moment Winston stared at the screen.

"Are you okay?" the doctor asked.

Jacqueline Natla had remained conscious for only a short time after awakening. She had been brought out by a surge of familiar power. Even though she was now human, she had felt it. Jacqueline had slipped away for a few hours until she awoke again on her own. Lying in the hospital bed she realized that she was now completely human. Nobody had to tell her that, she just knew.

During her time of unconsciousness Jacqueline had seen flashes of her final battle with Lara Croft. Now that she was awake, she thought about it, and about how the event had led to this. She had the right to be burning mad at Lara for taking her powers from her, but the anger had not surfaced, at least not yet.

The thing that puzzled her was the power surge that had initially brought her out of the coma. She had not felt that type of power in eons.

In her current situation Lara needed to have some power to help her. She had landed on hard metal and had no idea where she was until the lights came on. She was in an all metal room that had a single open door that led out.

'So much for a trap,' Lara thought. Either the trap was well hidden, or Sophia did not know what was down here. She did not even know the meaning of the word protégé. When Lara walked toward the opening, the door slammed shut and the floor began to slide back. Underneath the floor was a pool of molten rock.

A quick look around the room told Lara that there were no other ways out. She tried to pull the door open while staying on her feet with the floor sliding, but the door was not going to open by hand. She could feel the immense heat on her back.

Lara turned around to the widening hole. Hugging her body to the wall, the end of the floor too quickly slid toward the wall. For the first time in her adult life she felt that she was not going to make it out of this one. Lara looked around in a panic.

"Help me!" Lara cried out. The heat from the molten rock began burning her exposed legs. She desperately banged on the walls, and-

The sliding floor lurched to a stop, and the door opened. Lara stared at the molten rock as the floor began to slide toward the middle of the room. After getting a hold on her senses, Lara exited the room.

For a minute Lara stood still. She had almost bought the farm this time, but why did the trap stop? Standing there she was aware that there were sounds, but it took a moment for her to realize what it was. The sounds were that of gunfire.

Lara pulled out her pistols and ran down the hall. At the end she encountered a firefight. What appeared to be Egyptian police were exchanging fire with Sophia who was in a corner behind some heavy equipment.

Lara looked around for a brief moment when she saw her doppelganger standing in one of the corners out of harm's way.

'You're not going to get away from death that easily,' Lara thought. Skirting the room around the firefight Lara made her way over to where the demonic thing was standing. Lara was getting near to the doppelganger when she saw that the Eye of Isis artifact was on a pedestal close to it. Was the thing going to take it from Sophia during the melee?

Lara knew that she could not stop the thing. Shooting it would only get her killed. Her emotions were running high after nearly dying, and she had been bent on some kind of revenge. But her nerves had calmed down.

Suddenly Lara heard one of the policemen cry out. She turned to see one of the men pointing his weapon at the doppelganger. The doppelganger quickly went back into the shadows, but not before the policeman got off a shot.

A sudden pain went through Lara's arm, and she looked down at a wound that had just appeared. Holding her hand over the wound she glanced at the doppelganger which was holding its arm in the same way. Lara knew that she had to kill the policeman to protect herself.

Lara fired two shots and the policeman went down. Two of the other police turned as Lara ran toward her doppelganger. Why was this happening like this? The shot should have injured the policeman.

The two police officers who had turned fired at Lara. One of the bullets gave her leg a flesh wound, and both she and the doppelganger staggered. Lara got in front of the doppelganger and pointed both of her pistols at the approaching police. The doppelganger was pointing its fists in the opposite directions. It was then that Lara noticed that the Eye of Isis was softly glowing. It seemed that the artifact was making things a little different. To protect herself she had to protect her doppelganger while they were near it. The doppelganger was her protégé after all.

Lara and the doppelganger were around a corner, Lara exchanging fire with the Egyptian police. She then watched as one of the officers went to a better position for taking her out.

Suddenly Lara heard a loud crashing sound behind her, and then she was suddenly pulled backward and down into a hole in the floor. The doppelganger was dragging her as it quickly moved through the darkness, the sound of the firefight quickly dying. She then knew; the doppelganger had stopped the death trap.

At the Croft mansion Winston was pacing next to the satellite phone. He felt completely helpless because it had been longer than usual for Lara to check in on him and give an update on her progress. All that he could do was wait.

When the phone sounded Winston let out a sigh of relief.

On the viewer was Alex West.

"Mr. West," Winston replied. "I was hoping it was Lara."

"She isn't there?" Alex responded. "I need to talk to her."

"Lara has gone to Egypt for the Eye of Isis. She hasn't check in yet and I am getting worried," Winston said.

"Stay by the phone," Alex said to Winston. "I'm going after her. We are all in way over our heads this time."

Alex West and Zip were in a hotel room, where a portable satellite phone was set up on a table. Alex keyed the phone off.

Zip was setting by an open case containing the Infada.

"What are we doing with this?" Zip asked.

"We're keeping it," Alex replied. "At least until I get some answers."

While being dragged through the dark Lara had been knocked unconscious. She immediately guessed that she had hit her head, because when she came to her head hurt tremendously. She was in a small cave that was at the edge of the desert.

Blinking and holding her head Lara emerged onto the sand. It took a while to figure out where she was. Not far from the cave was a road that went to Cairo. The bad thing was this road was not used that much and it took a while for any vehicle to come along. Finally one did.

"We have been looking for you, Ms. Croft," the driver said as he drove.

"We?" Lara asked.

"I am with the British Embassy in Cairo," the man said. "Somebody wishes to speak with you."

"Is it Alex West?" Lara asked the driver.

"Alex is here in Egypt looking for you; has been for the last couple of hours. It was not he who wants to speak to you, but a Miss Jacqueline Natla.

Lara looked at the driver and then out of the side window. Maybe now she could get some answers. If anyone would know if there was a fourth scion she would.

Lara met up with Alex and together they went to Turkey to try and get some answers as to what all was happening and why. Natla was now out of the coma, but the doctors did not think that having visitors this early afterward was a good idea.

"I told her that she needed to rest more," one of the doctors told Lara and Alex, "but she was adamant."

Lara and Alex were led to Natla's room where she appeared to be looking out of a window.

"You two have ten minutes," the doctor stated.

Natla turned her head when Lara and Alex entered. She actually did not want Alex there, but did not say anything.

"Lara," Natla said softly. Both Lara and Alex sat on chairs. For a long and awkward moment Lara and Jacqueline looked at each other. Even Alex could feel the tension.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Lara finally broke the silence.

Natla nodded. "I was brought out of a coma by a power. I have not felt it in a long time."

"Power," Lara replied. "What kind of power is it? The scions and the other artifacts emitted it."

"Other artifacts," Natla responded. This was a statement not a question.

"Natla," Lara said, "somebody wants the Ora Dagger, the Eye of Isis, the-"

"Infada," Natla softly interrupted. Natla closed her eyes. "So much power was placed in it."

"Ms. Natla," Alex said, "we need to locate the Element 115 artifact. We don't know who wants all of these artifacts or why, but it can't be for something good."

Natla looked at Alex. "You don't even know what element 115 is, do you?"

Even though Natla's tone was soft, Alex did not like the way that she asked it. However, he still wanted answers.

"Okay," Alex replied. "Indulge us."

"Element 115 was found to have fifty times more power than high grade Plutonium," Natla said. "In its pure form, a one inch cube of it would have five times the power than an atomic bomb."

Lara and Alex glanced at each other. Lara asked where the artifact was, and the now human Natla did not know. Both she and Alex noticed the doctor standing outside the room.

"Natla," Lara said, "after the power surge the scions had changed. And it also seems that they now piece together; along with another. Is there a fourth scion?"

Natla appeared to be sleeping and the doctor entered.

"It is time for you two to leave," the doctor told Lara and Alex. "She needs her rest."

Both Lara and Alex stood and began to walk to the door.

"Lara," Natla said softly, and Lara walked up to the bed.

"There is a fourth scion. The four scions are as they were intended."

Lara nodded, but not understanding what Natla meant.

"Where is the fourth one?" Lara asked.

"Element 115," Natla replied, obviously becoming less lucid. "The fourth scion is where you left element-"

Natla was unconscious. Lara and Alex left the hospital room.

"The fourth scion is where you left, what?" Alex asked.

"Element," Lara replied. "Element 115. But I left the artifact at the cavern with the…meteorite."


End file.
